Month: October 2018

  • Martin Jones talks citizen science ahead of SpotOn 18

    Martin Jones talks citizen science ahead of SpotOn 18

    One of Robert Hooke’s meticulous sketches of fleas Wikimedia Commons Observation is a key part of the scientific process. For many years significant effort was required to capture single scientific images, from meticulously hand-drawn views through a microscope (e.g. Robert Hooke’s sketches of fleas), through to photographic plates used in astronomy. These methods were all…

  • National Cat Day: Let’s celebrate personality and love

    National Cat Day: Let’s celebrate personality and love

    Inter-species companionship, such as keeping pets, is an ancient practice for humans indicating a significant value obtained from the relationship. Historically, humans demonstrated this value by sharing resources such as food and shelter with their animal companions. Today, value is reflected monetarily. One worldwide 2017 study estimate suggested that humans spent $109 billion on pet…

  • 2 for 1? Community treatment for onchocerciasis also reduces loaisis

    2 for 1? Community treatment for onchocerciasis also reduces loaisis

    Many diseases talked about in this blog rely on mass drug administration (MDA) to reduce transmission and morbidity in endemic communities. This is a public health policy that involves mapping where diseases are found and administering treatment to at-risk groups without testing for the specific disease (can be entire communities or particular groups, i.e. school-aged…

  • BMC Mechanical Engineering is now open for submissions!

    BMC Mechanical Engineering is now open for submissions!

    © microolga / Getty Images / iStock BMC Mechanical Engineering officially opened for submissions in September 2018 and is the fourth journal in the BMC series family of journals that serves communities beyond biology and medicine. The ethos of BMC Mechanical Engineering is to be open and inclusive, submissions are rigorously peer reviewed to assess scientific…

  • The green soul of the concrete jungle

    The green soul of the concrete jungle

    © phonprom / Getty Images / iStock This century will be remembered as the urban century, and our generation will be witness to the greatest migration in human history. By 2050, there will be 2.4 billion more people in cities, a rate of urban growth that is the equivalent of building a city the size…

  • How do middle-aged social drinkers perceive their alcohol consumption?

    How do middle-aged social drinkers perceive their alcohol consumption?

    © Konstantin Sutyagin / stock.adobe.com Alcohol is ubiquitous in many western countries, and most people who consume alcohol don’t have a “drinking problem” as we usually think of it – they drink socially and it has very little to no negative impact on their daily life. They have something to celebrate? Champagne. Work’s finished for…

  • Do sex differences play a role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Using big data to tackle big questions

    Do sex differences play a role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Using big data to tackle big questions

    Human Genome wall for SC99 on ornl.gov. (https://www.csm.ornl.gov/SC99/GENwall.html) Copied from en.wikipedia. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: What we know and what we don’t Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), covers a wide spectrum of liver pathology that are not caused by alcohol consumption, spanning from fat accumulation in the liver (steatosis), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and hepatocellular…

  • Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Highlighting Breast Cancer Research in Cell Biology and Genetics

    Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Highlighting Breast Cancer Research in Cell Biology and Genetics

    Cell Biology and Genetics Research in the Fight Against Breast Cancer October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the United States. In recognition of this, we are proud to highlight some of the amazing research published on both the basic and clinical research fronts in our cell biology and genetics journals. The field of oncology…

  • Literature reviews and bibliographic research methods: training is the key to success

    Literature reviews and bibliographic research methods: training is the key to success

    The scoping reviews were on the topic of urban health and prevention and control of vector-borne diseases © imagean / Getty Images / iStock I had the privilege to be the coordinator of the VERDAS consortium (VEctor-boRne DiseAses Scoping reviews) during the past couple of years; this has recently resulted in the publication of the…

  • Let’s talk more about volcanic hazard maps

    Let’s talk more about volcanic hazard maps

    Schematic illustration of the variation in volcanic hazard maps (modified from Calder et al. 2015) Volcanic hazard maps are visual, geospatial depictions of the areas that could be impacted by various volcanic phenomena during or subsequent to an eruption. They are developed to communicate a complex array of hazard information to those at risk, or…